Heartland: The Photographs of Terry Evans

Evans has been photographing people and landscapes in the Great Plains for the last 40 years. This title, compiled by Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, MO) curators Davis, Jane L. Aspinwall, and April M. Watson, includes 108 color and black-and-white photographs taken by Evans between 1972 and 2012 and three scholarly essays. The text addresses Evans's early artistic life, the cultural and artistic history of the Great Plains beginning with European exploration, and historical developments in aerial photography. All of the essays contextualize the artist's investigation of the prairie's peoples, places, and landscapes. Nearly all of the images speak to human influence on vast landscapes. Of unique interest is the series "Prairie Specimens," in which Evans composed images of prairie flora and fauna found in the historical specimen collection at Chicago's Field Museum. All of the images work to give a full-textured view of the mid-American landscape.